Madagascar National Parks, formerly known as the Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées (ANGAP; lit. 'National Association for the Management of Protected Areas'), was founded in 1990 and is charged with managing a network of 46 National Parks, Special Reserves and Integral Nature Reserves in Madagascar. It is a private association that is legally recognised to have a public function since 4 December 1991, and it operates under the supervision of the ministry responsible for the environment, which, as of June 2008, is the Ministry of the Environment and Forests (MEF). The association's mission is "To establish, conserve and sustainably manage a national network of parks and reserves representative of the biological diversity and the natural heritage of Madagascar."